


Frown Lines

by mizukiakabayashis (kraykei)



Category: Free!
Genre: Developing Relationship, Fluff, M/M, Post-Series, Romance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-01-14
Updated: 2015-01-14
Packaged: 2018-03-07 11:53:42
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,143
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3173092
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kraykei/pseuds/mizukiakabayashis
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Sousuke frowns too much. Luckily, Kisumi's smile is contagious.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Frown Lines

 I. 

“If you keep frowning so much, you’ll have wrinkles by the time you’re thirty.”

That was how Kisumi broke three whole minutes of blissful silence, the first Sousuke had enjoyed since agreeing to spend the afternoon with his childhood friend.  While he had returned to Tokyo to work at the family business, Kisumi attended the local university, giving them endless opportunities to “catch up”.  This positively thrilled only one of them.  Kisumi hadn’t changed a bit.  He was still obnoxious.

Still charming too, unfortunately.

But Sousuke was immune to his appeal, and shot his old friend a glare to prove it. “Shut up.”

Kisumi just smiled in response.  “Don’t get so mad! You’ll still look good when you start going gray in a few years!”

“Shut up,” he repeated, but it was hopeless. Kisumi never shut up. 

Sousuke ignored the way his face burned for a few minutes after.  When it came to Kisumi, no one was _totally_ immune.

 

 

 II.

“And so then I told him—hey, Sousuke, are you listening?”

The sound of his name jolted Sousuke out of his reverie (flashes of red in the churning waters of the pool, a shoulder that couldn’t withstand the pressure, _don’t crush your own potential before you even try_ ) and drew his attention back to Kisumi, who lay sprawled out on the grass beside him.  Somehow, they’d ended up at the park. Sousuke couldn’t recall why he’d agreed to hang out in the first place.  This happened a lot, lately.

“No.” He might have regretted such a blunt answer had Kisumi cared in the slightest.  Things that would get Sousuke worked up in anger rolled off Kisumi with ease, letting him move through life mostly happy and unscathed.  Sousuke envied him so much it hurt, sometimes.

“What are you thinking about?”  Always too many questions.  Sousuke stopped envying Kisumi when he remembered how _annoying_ he was—he worried more, but at least he didn’t act like that. 

“It doesn’t matter,” he said, running his fingers through the grass absentmindedly, gripping a handful and tearing it roughly from the ground.  “Not anymore.”

“Hm.”  Kisumi looked actually contemplative for a moment.  He didn’t look at Sousuke, but rather at the expansive blue sky stretched out above them.  “Then you should stop thinking about it, right?”

  

 

 III. 

“No.”

“Aw, come _on_ Sousuke—”

“I said _no_.”

“Don’t you know how to have fun?”

Sousuke wanted to retort that of _course_ he did, but recently his idea of fun was leaving work early so he could take a nap.  It was pretty pathetic, but he wasn’t about to admit that.  Besides, he wasn’t desperate enough to—

“I’m not going to your little brother’s school play.” 

Kisumi signed, and for a second Sousuke thought he’d won. “Well, I guess I can’t _make_ you. I just thought having another fan would cheer him up.”

He should have known better.  There was no winning.

 

\--

 

The play was an hour-long train wreck of poor acting from elementary schoolers who couldn’t remember their lines.  They sat in the front row, sandwiched between mothers who shot them disapproving looks every time Kisumi grabbed his arm and whispered _look, there he is!_ —also known as every time Hayato appeared onstage.  His little brother didn’t have a single line, yet at the end Kisumi stood up and applauded like he was the star.

Sousuke didn’t realize he was staring until Kisumi looked back.  He leaned in close to be heard over the cheering parents when he said, “You should smile more often! It really suits you.”

He was smiling? He hadn’t noticed. He tried desperately to glare and tell Kisumi _shut up, I’m immune to your obnoxious bubblegum hair and personality_.  But in the moment, he couldn’t fight the upward curve of his mouth.

  

 

 IV.

Sousuke wasn’t sure how he’d ended up in Kisumi’s apartment, seated side-by-side on the couch, letting him ogle his bad shoulder like he was some kind of wounded zoo animal.  Or, at least, that’s what he’d expected this would be like.  He hadn’t expected Kisumi to look at him so _gently_.  Not with pity, just…softly.

Even Kisumi’s voice was lower than normal when he said, “It hurts, doesn’t it.”  It wasn’t a question because he didn’t need to ask.  Why the hell did this feel so…intimate?

“Of course it fucking hurts,” Sousuke choked out, but it lacked any ire even to his own ears.

Kisumi flashed him a mischievous smirk that shattered the moment instantly.  “Want me to kiss it better?”

“Shut _up_ ,” he grumbled, shoving Kisumi lightly (too lightly, when did a shove turn into just a touch?) with his good arm.

He wouldn’t admit it, but sometimes, Sousuke kind of thought kissing him wouldn’t be that bad after all.

  

 

V.

Sousuke was terrible with kids—they were loud, whiny, and required too much supervision.  He didn’t even _like_ them.

That’s what he told himself every time Kisumi conned him into babysitting Hayato.  Why the hell did he keep asking, anyway?  The kid was probably afraid of him, which pissed Sousuke off.  He was _nice_.

“You’re just too big and scary,” Kisumi always said, but Sousuke wasn’t _trying_ to intimidate Hayato.  It was just really easy to do. He doubted the brothers were actually related.  How could the same people who produced someone so sweet and shy also make...Kisumi?

Hayato was too soft.  Too fragile.  Sousuke was always afraid he’d break him.  But he babysat him anyway, taking him to the park or the pool and letting him have the snacks he wasn’t supposed to eat.

One afternoon, sitting side-by-side on the swings Sousuke was comically too big for, Hayato turned to him and said, “My brother really likes you.” 

Sousuke’s involuntary blush irritated him, but when Hayato smiled in response he decided he didn’t mind.  When the kid was happy, he practically _glowed_.  It was infectious.

Maybe he could see how he and Kisumi were related after all.

 

 

 VI.

“Why don’t you ever want to go somewhere _nicer_?”

Kisumi said the same thing every time they went for fast food, which had somehow become multiple times a week.  Sousuke might have taken his complaints more seriously if he didn’t always steal half his fries.

“Like where—hey, that’s mine.”

Kisumi removed his lips from the straw of Sousuke’s drink, not looking remotely sorry.  “I’ll surprise you.”  Anticipating rejection before it came, he added, “It’ll be fun!”

“Okay.”

“Oh, come—okay?!”  Sousuke took a bite of his burger, chewing slowly so he wouldn’t have to acknowledge Kisumi’s zeal.  “You’ll seriously go?”

“I said I would.”

“Sousuke!” Kisumi was practically _beaming_ , and even louder than usual in his excitement.  Why was he so worked up over dinner?

Sousuke couldn’t help hoping it was the same reason he had to hide his smile in another bite of his burger.

 

 

 VII.

Sousuke was going to have to make movie nights with Kisumi a tradition. The other man had finally shut up, if only because he passed out halfway through, leaning his head on Sousuke’s (good) shoulder. Kisumi was pleasantly warm, and Sousuke found himself subconsciously matching the slow rhythm of his breathing as his eyes slipped closed. 

He didn’t realize he’d fallen asleep until loud onscreen explosions jolted him awake.  Sousuke was embarrassingly aware of Kisumi against him, his muscles tensing each time the other man snuggled closer.  Kisumi expressed affection so naturally, without a hint of shame suggesting he realized this wasn’t typical friendly behavior.  Not that he’d care.  

“Why didn’t you wake me up?”

“You looked so cute! I just couldn’t.”

Sousuke hoped his living room was dim enough to hide the infuriating blush on his face. “What the hell?”

“Sleeping’s the only time you’re not so grumpy.”  Kisumi reached up and touched the spot on Sousuke’s forehead where his eyebrows furrowed together, laughing when he glared reflexively.  “Aw, don’t get mad! Your wrinkles were finally gone!”

“I could kick you out of my house,” he grumbled.

It was an empty threat, and Kisumi clearly knew it, settling in against Sousuke’s side and sounding far too confident when he said, “But you won’t.”

He didn’t.

 

 

 VIII.

“So…how long have you and Kisumi been a thing, and why didn’t you _tell_ me?”

“ _What_?”  When Rin had come home from Australia for a visit, Sousuke had foolishly agreed to Kisumi’s suggestion to hang out together—all three of them _, just like old times!_   He should have seen this coming.  Rin knew him better than anyone.  “We’re not a _thing_.”

“Oh, yeah?”  Sousuke recognized the challenging gleam in Rin’s eyes and knew his best friend was about to present damning evidence like _then why did you let him feed you at lunch_ or _why did he use so many kissing emojis when he tried to text you but actually messaged both of us_. 

“Come on, Rin.  You seriously think I’d bring you along as the third wheel?”

When Rin went quiet for a moment, Sousuke thought he’d won. Then Rin smirked and said, “So, you’re not dating him.  But you _want_ to be.”

“No.” 

Rin didn’t bother to refute the lie—the redness rising on Sousuke’s cheeks did the job.  “Why don’t you ask him out? He’s totally into you.”

_Was_ he?  Maybe Kisumi let everyone watch his precious little brother, laid his head in everyone’s lap until asked to move, offered every injured former sports prodigy a massage because _maybe then you’ll stop grimacing when you think I can’t see you—_

Or maybe Sousuke was a fucking idiot.

He refused to look Rin in the eye, his face still burning when he mumbled, “Fine.  I will.”

“Took you long enough.”

 

 

 IX.

_I’ll go easy on you!_ Kisumi had said before successfully prodding Sousuke into a game of one-on-one basketball in the park—and kicking his ass.  Despite the humiliating loss and the uncomfortable feeling of sweat seeping through his t-shirt, Sousuke enjoyed the lingering exhilaration of competition.  It had been too long.

Kisumi was hardly winded, but he snatched Sousuke’s water bottle and took a drink anyway. “Wasn’t that fun?”

Sousuke meant to say _no, it wasn’t, I hate basketball,_ but when he looked at Kisumi his throat went dry.  Since realizing his feelings were reciprocated, he’d wanted to…kiss him, ask him out, take _action_ nearly every second of their time together.  He’d been waiting for the right moment, but but…

He was sick of missing out on what he was dreaming for.

The words spilled from his lips before he could second guess himself. “Will you go out with me?”

The initial surprise on Kisumi’s face made Sousuke’s heart tighten with dread.  Could he have been _that_ wrong?  But then Kisumi smiled.  “I’ve been wanting to ask _you_ out for so long, you know.”

He _was_ an idiot. “Why didn’t you?”

“I didn’t think you’d say yes.”  It wasn’t fair, he realized, that Kisumi was always so open with his affection while Sousuke kept his buried. But Kisumi didn’t even seem to mind, reaching his hand and intertwining their fingers.  “Well, better late than never, right?”

Sousuke could never be half as optimistic (or as _happy_ ) as Kisumi was every day, and he still envied him for it.  But maybe it’d rub off on him eventually.  There was only one way to find out.

He leaned in and closed the distance between them with a kiss.

 

 

 X.

“Sousuke.  Sousuke.” 

Kisumi repeated his name several more times before Sousuke reached his breaking point.  He opened his eyes, shooting a glare at his boyfriend for disturbing his nap. “Shut up.”

“Aw, you’re so mean!”

Sousuke sighed.  He still hadn’t learned to resist Kisumi’s charm—he probably never would. “Fine, come lie down with me.”

Kisumi practically leapt into bed beside him, snuggling close like they’d been apart for weeks and not hours. “You never let me kiss it better, you know.”

“What?”

“Your shoulder.”

“It _is_ better.”  It was only half a lie.  He’d never swim again, not the way he’d wanted, but the pain didn’t keep him up at night anymore.

“A kiss won’t hurt.” 

_Ridiculous,_ Sousuke thought, but his eyes closed in contentment when he felt the soft brush of lips against his old injury.

He’d nearly fallen back asleep when Kisumi spoke again. “I’m glad you’re smiling more.”

Sousuke opened his eyes to find Kisumi’s face just inches from his own, gazing at him with an overwhelming fondness.  “Smiling all the time will still give me wrinkles, you know.”

Kisumi just laughed. “I don’t care about your _wrinkles_ , Sousuke.  I just want to make you happy.”  Kisumi was too romantic (too _embarrassing_ ), but when Sousuke saw his broad smile, he couldn’t help but smile back.

“You do,” he said, putting an arm around Kisumi and pulling him closer.

He’d never meant anything more in his life.

 

 

**Author's Note:**

> This pairing is vastly underrated and I'm making it my life's mission to make more people appreciate it.


End file.
